Nepal in the world bodies: the United Nations, the WTO, SAARC and BIMSTEC

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Nepal in the world bodies: the United Nations, the WTO, SAARC and BIMSTEC

Background

Nepal became a member of the United Nations through the adoption of Resolution A/Res/995(X) by the United Nations General Assembly on 14 December 1955. Nepal has held a non-permanent membership of the Security Council during the years 1969-70 and 1988-89. It has taken part in UN-mandated peacekeeping operations since 1958. Nepal became the 147th WTO member on 23 April 2004, and is the first LDC to join the WTO through the full working party negotiation process. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was established on 8 December 1985 and comprises eight members; Nepal is a founding member. The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987. BIMSTEC was established on 6 June 1997 through the adoption of the Bangkok Declaration, and Nepal and Bhutan entered it on 8 February 2004.

United Nations membership: 14 December 1955 Admitting resolution: A/Res/995(X) WTO membership: 23 April 2004 SAARC Secretariat: Kathmandu Entry into BIMSTEC: 8 February 2004

Why it matters for exams: The year of UN entry, the seat of the SAARC Secretariat and the BIMSTEC founding declaration are recurring one-mark facts, and Nepal's WTO accession is the standard example of an LDC accession.

Kerala PSCUPSC

6 October 2026 Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal - Multilateral Affairs

In plain words

SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation — The eight-member regional grouping of South Asia, with its Secretariat in Kathmandu.

BIMSTEC Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation — A grouping of countries around the Bay of Bengal drawn from South and Southeast Asia.

LDC Least Developed Country — A United Nations category of countries facing the severest structural obstacles to development.

Working party — The WTO committee of existing members that negotiates the terms on which an applicant joins.